Charles Pyles

At age 61, God's message for me through His word was that I would continue to be a witness to the nations, even into my "retirement" years. I was called to serve as a Southern Baptist missionary in Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. After 12 years of serving overseas, I returned to Texas where God led me to my current place of service in McKinney, Texas as a Volunteer Community Developer for the Collin Baptist Association.

While there is much to do in this area, my concentration has been in bringing physical community together with spiritual community in low-rent apartment housing. Upon my arrival in McKinney it was evident that God was at work when He made known to me an apartment manager who said she had been praying for 3 years that an apartment ministry would be started in her complex.

Transforming a community involves being a presence within that community and working towards the reconciliation of the residents with each other, and to God. I believe in using Asset Based Community Development - finding assets based in the community, and leveraging those assets so they will lead to transformation. The Texas Christian Community Development is leading the way in transforming communities.

Transformation also requires the development of leaders within the community. This primarily requires listening to people, helping them to know and understand they are important and loved by others, and by Jesus Christ, and His followers. If the church will listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, entire communities can be transformed. It is the responsibility of the church to be the catalysts for social and community change. I believe that one of my gifts is to help develop leaders who will then reproduce their leadership in these apartment communities.

Our country is in desperate need for a spiritual awakening followed by revival, and true revival will only begin at the grassroots level - our communities. It is my prayer that God will honor the prayers and the efforts of his faithful followers in McKinney that our communities will look less and less like areas divided by social and economic barriers, and more like the Kingdom of God, where people of every tribe and tongue will gather together to give praise to our Lord Jesus Christ.